21 Then Jesus made it clear to his disciples that it was now necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, submit to an ordeal of suffering at the hands of the religious leaders, be killed, and then on the third day be raised up alive. 22 Peter took him in hand, protesting, "Impossible, Master! That can never be!" 23 But Jesus didn't swerve. "Peter, get out of my way. Satan, get lost. You have no idea how God works." 24 Then Jesus went to work on his disciples. "Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You're not in the driver's seat; I am. Don't run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I'll show you how.
Peter had the best of intentions at heart when he tried to talk Jesus out of the way of suffering. He had no intention of being an evil temptation.
He wanted suffering eliminated from Jesus life. We all would like to see the same.
Suffering is so costly; it hurts so much, demands so much, takes so much.
What Peter and we need to understand is that suffering belongs to the very nature of this world and to the very nature of Jesus - the suffering servant who emptied himself.
To be caught up with the will of God is to take on suffering as a part of loving. The only way to eliminate suffering is to eliminate love. Love makes sense out of and gives meaning to life, even suffering.
“...life without any kind of suffering would be no life at all; it would be a form of death. Life - the life of the spirit like the life of the body- depends in some mysterious way upon the struggle to be...suffering-as-struggle belongs...to life’s foundational basis and goodness...A pain free life would be a life-less life.” Douglas John Hall
“We suffer because we are human and out of our suffering comes our
capacity for compassion. For ‘suffering integrates us into life
and makes us more fully and truly ‘alive’.” Douglas John Hall
Prayer thoughts for the week.
Lord, when it comes (suffering) help me to walk through it to the better end.
…keep me from loosing touch with compassion even in suffering.
…help me to love the pain out of suffering, and live life with a joy which
passes human understanding.
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